News in brief

The UN General Assembly on Thursday approved a resolution calling for «international cooperation» and «multilateralism» in the fight against Covid-19, in the first text to come out of the international body since the outbreak began.
The resolution, which was approved by consensus, also stresses «the need for full respect for human rights» and that «there is no place for any form of discrimination, racism and xenophobia in the response to the pandemic».
Russia was unsuccessful in opposing the resolution with its own text that was supported by four other countries.
The UN resolution stresses the central role of the body in the global health and economic crisis. It was submitted by Switzerland, Indonesia, Singapore, Norway, Liechtenstein and Ghana, and adopted by 188 of the 193 states that make up the body, diplomats said.

There are now more than one million confirmed cases of the new coronavirus worldwide.
Nearly 53,000 people have died and more than 210,000 have recovered, according to a US university tally
The US has recorded the world’s highest daily toll with 1,169 deaths
On Thursday Spain reported its highest number of deaths in a single day, at 950.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a new test for coronavirus antibodies, the first for use in the United States.
Currently available tests are designed to find fragments of viral genes indicating an ongoing infection. Doctors swab the nose and throat, and amplify any genetic material from the virus found there.
The new test, by contrast, looks for protective antibodies in a finger prick of blood. It tells doctors whether a patient has ever been exposed to the virus and now may have some immunity.

As the Greek government continues with its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a new opinion poll has indicated that the majority of the public approves of its response despite a high level of public concern about the crisis.
Eight in 10 Greeks are concerned about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new opinion poll carried out by Pulse for Skai between March 30 and April 1. Specifically, 78 percent of respondents said they were worried about the pandemic.
However, about the same proportion (82 percent) said they were satisfied with the measures taken by the government to respond to the crisis and contain the spread of the virus.

Greek Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras on Thursday announced 99 new cases of coronavirus with the death toll rising to 53.
Of these 23 are residents at the Ritsona refugee camp, north of Athens, and 49 people on a passenger ferry currently anchored off Piraeus.
Deaths rose to 53 after three more patients, died in the hospital, he said.

Distribution of the chloroquine-based drug Unikinon to all coronavirus reference hospitals of the National Health System will start on Friday, pharmaceutical manufacturer Uni-Pharma SA announced on Thursday.
The drug was approved for distribution by the National Organization for Medicines.
Some 24 million doses of Unikinon will be distributed and a batch of 60,000 doses will be sent to Cyprus.

The ferry «Eleftherios Venizelos» has reached Pireaus port last night.
The ferry is carrying a 34-person crew and another 349 seamen of various nationalities, among them two Greek citizens.
Two of the 20 patients, a 72-year old Swiss man and a 34-year old Indonesian, who were in a more serious condition than the others, were transferred to Attikon hospital.
The crew of the ferry and the other passengers will remain on the ship for at least 12 days.

The government is considering imposing stricter measures in the coming days, to tackle unnecessary movement of civilians, in its effort to control coronavirus from spreading. This was pre announced by government spokesman Stelios Petsas, who said that the government will close tolls if necessary ahead of Easter and will put a time limit to each movement.

An old man in Kalamaria Thessalonikis lost his life, after a fire broke out in his apartment. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

And the weather forecast…
Cloudy and rainy in Attica today with the temperature reaching a maximum of 14 degrees Celsius.